Democratic Party of Cambodia

The Democratic Party was a Khmer nationalist and democratic socialist political party in Cambodia which existed from 1946 to 1957. It was founded by Prince Sisowath Youtevong, a former SFIO member, who supported the Khmer Issarak nationalist rebels. In 1947, the party swept the National Assembly elections, but it fragmented after 1948 due to the ascendancy of the liberals. Many members of the Khmer intellectual elite were members fo the Democratic Party before independence in 1953, and it moved leftwards after 1954 due to the influence of Paris-educated intellectuals. In 1955, many prominent anti-communists within the Democratic Party joined the new Sangkum party, and the Democrats dissolved in 1957